Gunplay, Glamour A Myth In Real World Of Vice Cop

Today's look at law enforcement efforts is the second of four parts in The Morning Call's drug abuse series, which continues tomorrow and Sunday and with occasional stories throughout the year.

Names and some places have been changed in these stories to protect the privacy of sources. Unless otherwise noted, where full names are used, they are the real names of the subjects.

Harry is a vice cop in Bethlehem. But unlike Don Johnson, his stylish counterpart on television's "Miami Vice," Harry prefers faded jeans, a T- shirt and old running shoes.

Although both men have stubble on their faces, Harry is unshaven because he doesn't like to shave, not because he's trying to conform to some trend that also includes wearing $400 pastel-colored suits. Harry doesn't have much time to think about trends, pastels, or Don Johnson, for that matter. He's too caught up in his work - the sobering world of real life drug enforcement.

The difference in Harry's and Don Johnson's appearances serves as an example of the gaping contrast between real vice cops and those presented to the public through television.

The lives of vice cops in the Lehigh Valley consist of long hours which might be spent in the boring quiet of a stake-out vehicle one day or in the procedural doldrums of a courtroom the next. They do not have the luxury of working exclusively on drug sales, having to investigate everything from prostitution to child pornography to gambling.

The continuous pistol-toting excitement of vice work on television is a myth, as is the unlimited funding for drug buys, sports cars and boats.

Local vice cops will often spend hours upon hours on an investigation that nets only two or three $20 packets of heroin from someone they know will be right back on the streets hustling, sometimes the same day. The dealers will often know the vice cops by name because they've been busted so often. Harry is referred to as "Dirty Harry" by some on the streets.

The changing legal system, the vice cops say, has made it much harder to put dealers behind bars because of all the "loopholes" available to lawyers arguing for acquittal.

Vice cops also come to depend heavily on informants who sometimes, because of their own drughabits, are less than dependable, forfeiting long investigations and leaving the cops looking for another "in" on the streets.

While the vice cops pursue what some of them believe is an insurmountable battle to get drugs off the streets, another kind of battle ensues within the police departments as vice cops try to get more money and manpower for their operations.

Their jobs are not without excitement, like during the adrenaline-filled moments before a raid, but "frustration" is a word a lot of vice cops use to describe their work.

Joseph Bedics, head of the Bethlehem Police vice squad and Harry's boss, says after awhile "you just get programmed to do your job. You don't think about the odds against you. We have a duty and we do it."

As for any similarities between his squad and "Miami Vice," Bedics calls the television show "ridiculous . . . I extend an open invitation to Don Johnson and what's-his-name to ride with us anytime. We'll see how long they last."

* * *

It has just rained this spring afternoon, and the air is still heavy and warm. Harry is sitting in the middle of four uniformed police officers outside a city garage, drawing a map of the house they are about to raid for drugs. The uniformed officers will serve as Harry's backup when he enters the front door.

As he explains who is to cover what door, Harry - with a drooping moustache and long hair covering the back of his neck - looks more like a suspect than a police officer. But in vice work, where the ability to work undercover is essential, the key is to look like the element of people you're investigating.

Harry tells the officers that one of his informants purchased a $20 packet of heroin at the home that morning and that he believes the dealer returned the day beforefrom New York City with about $2,000 worth of heroin. Harry figures it's best to hit the house quickly, before the heroin is all sold.

The afternoon was spent securing a search warrant from a district justice, using the heroin purchased in the morning as the probable cause for the search.

The house is in Marvine Village, a public housing project in the northeast section of Bethlehem. Drugs of all kinds are said to flow freely in the Village. It is Harry's battleground.

After the briefing, Harry and the police officers climb into the two police cruisers they will use to drive to the house. Harry checks the rounds in his revolver and then tucks it between his jeans and belly before taking the passenger seat of the lead police car.